Can You Stay?
by Ruby Daughter of Ares
Summary: After being gone for far too long (in Percy's opinion), Nico comes back to Camp Half-Blood. Pernico. One-shot. Pipabeth mention, barely.


All rights reserved to Rick Riordan. Like usual. I don't own anything. As usual. Enjoy!

* * *

Percy was in the ultimate state of boredom. The point in which you go to Mr. D for something to do. Dionysus was less than pleased to see him. Who wouldn't want to see the two time savior of the entire world? This guy.

"Peter." Mr. D barely acknowledged the eighteen year old, he was too busy drinking diet coke and reading a trashy magazine. Percy didn't even try anymore. He knew that the god knew his name. It was just a lost cause.

"Do you need help with anything?" Percy offered. Chiron trotted up next to the sitting man. Dionysus continued to ignore him.

"Mortals are disgusting. How many times can they get divorced and remarried until the public doesn't care anymore? And look at what this woman is wearing!" He turned the page to show the centaur, who made a disgusted face.

"Mr. D. Do you need anything? Is there anything for me to do? Can I help?" If he just kept trying maybe he'd get an answer. Dionysus continued to ignore him. Chiron glanced back and forth between the two. He let out a sigh.

"I have some things that need to be delivered to some campers. Items from the camp store, repaired weapons, and documents. If you could do that it would be great." Chiron gave him a smile. Percy returned it without emotion and left the two old men alone. Working was better than moping, so might as well get to it.

Nico hated being back at New Rome. It was so boring. After the war everything was just a mess. Being good friends with Reyna, she insisted he stay and help. Couldn't he help at Camp Half-Blood? Nope. Fine.

He had to do all these stupid errands with no time off. All he wanted to do was lay around and think. But there was no time for that. There were things to be done. 24/7. Ugh.

Reyna had summoned him. Summoned, really? What was he, a student to the principal's office? What did he do now? As he stepped up to the praetor's room, she rose. She needed to stop being so regal all the time. It was annoying.

"Hello, glad you could come on such short notice. I have another errand for you," Nico inhaled. This wasn't going to be good. Reyna continued undisturbed. "I need you to visit the other camp and pick up some things for us. Just some weapons and documents that we need. Shouldn't take very long."

Nico couldn't believe it. He actually got to do something not ridiculously boring. Not taking inventory of weapons, or checking up on injured people. Investigating stolen items and dealing with public disputes. What was he, a social worker?

He finally got to go back to camp. Sure, he had hated the place for a while, but after the war he realized how much everyone really cared. How hard they would fight, and how much they all depended and cared for each other. It was really an eye opener. Not that he was happy giants tried to kill everyone. That was bad.

Nico nodded, trying not to seem too excited. As he turned around and calmly walked out. Reyna smirked behind him.

"You don't have to hide your enthusiasm. I know you just want to see Jackson." Nico's very pale face turned red He marched out, barely hearing Reyna laugh heartily. She was so mean to him. But she was all too right. Outside the building, Nico had to resist the urge to skip down the street. Instead he found the darkest shadow and channeled all of his power. He would be back at camp in no time.

Percy had tried to carry everything at once, assuring himself that being stabbed by multiple weapons was better than taking multiple trips. Death was better than taking multiple trips. He had to deliver a bunch of weapons to the Ares cabin. They were specially made in New Rome. What made them special eluded him.

Trying to give them to Clarisse was hard enough. She had to grab one from the bottom making him drop everything, and of course she blamed him. So he had to pick everything back up and hand it to her siblings. Some people…

After that he delivered topsoil to the Demeter cabin. Of course they made him smell all of the flowers and judge who had the prettiest windowsill. They may seem sweet and nice but they were competitive. He excused himself to do more errands, and then sprinted off.

The Aphrodite cabin had ordered thousands of dollars of makeup. Of course. They all had a good flirt with him then he bailed. That cabin was probably the scariest. All the pink and white frills everywhere. Nico probably had nightmares about it.

Nico. He missed him. He was always over at Camp Jupiter, most likely trying to avoid everyone. Percy just wanted to see him every now and again. Was that bad? They were friends, what was wrong with wanting to see his friend? Annabeth always laughed at him, but never told him why. It was really annoying. While she was off with Piper trying to find more demigods. And making out. They did that a lot too.

His last delivery was to… Camp Jupiter. That was quite a while away. Why the hell did they have some of Camp Jupiter's stuff? It just looked like some weapons and documents. He would just take it back to Chiron.

"Percy!" A strained voice yelled. Percy turned, immediately recognizing the voice. A figure in all dark clothes came barreling towards him. Nico barely stopped before running into Percy. The older boy caught him by the shoulders. While Nico panted, Percy laughed.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" Percy started to shake him. Nico went limp in his arms. He was still trying to catch his after the shadow traveling, and sprinting over. Percy really wasn't helping.

"Camp Jupiter stuff." Nico barely managed to say. Percy stopped immediately. So he didn't come for him. Why did that make him so upset? He should just be happy he was here. No matter what the reason.

"Oh, we have a delivery for Camp Jupiter. I was helping out. Here." He handed the package to Nico. He glanced down and went through it, making sure everything was intact. He put it under his arm and stared at the ground.

"So I guess you have to go now." Percy stared off at the rock climbing wall. He couldn't believe Nico had just come back to get something and then leave. It was unfair. Did he have a life back at New Rome? A girlfriend? That notion made him even angrier.

"Uh, Reyna didn't really specify when I had to go back. I kinda wanted to stay around here for a bit. You don't mind, do you? Sorry for being unexpected and stuff but-" Nico was engulfed in a bear hug. He couldn't resist laughing. Percy pulled away only seconds after.

"What? What did I do?" He actually sounded scared. This made Nico laugh even harder. He was so thick sometimes. Percy just glared at him. Nico took a minute to calm himself. He grabbed Percy's shoulder and gave him a small smile.

To anyone else that would mean nothing, but from Nico, it meant the world. So they both just sat there, Nico absorbing the camp, and Percy absorbing Nico. He had changed so much since he had met him all those years ago. He had lost all the anger he once held.

Nico's small smile gradually turned into a frown. Percy noticed immediately. He may not be the smartest, but he knew Nico better than anyone. He nudged the boys shoulder. He jumped a bit, like he forgot Percy was there.

"Wha- oh, sorry. Zoned out." He propped his chin up on his knee. Percy really wasn't satisfied with that answer. He nudged him some more. The Ghost King just rolled his eyes.

"I just- It's weird being back here. I mean, Camp Jupiter is great. Really great. All organized and stuff. But it's not here. You don't see the Stoll's running around pulling pranks, the Aphrodite girls fixing their hair in the pond, Athena kids with their books, Demeter with the pretty gardens, Hestia sitting by the fire, Ares kids being assholes, Apollo playing basketball, and the smell of the sea just radiating from your cabin." Nico's eyes almost glazed over in ecstasy just thinking about camp. Percy couldn't imagine how horrible he felt over in California. But one thing was more apparent.

"You like the ocean? You never told me that." Percy was genuinely confused. Nico never said anything about going to the beach or going anywhere that had a coast. Ever. He would have remembered that.

"Who doesn't?" Nico almost sounded sad. Percy cocked his head. Nico stared straight at him. Dark eyes meeting Percy's enticing sea green. They stayed like that for a while. Nico was trying to explain everything without words, and Percy was grasping at straws. It wasn't until Nico finally gave up did he understand.

The son of Hades flung himself at the Sea Prince. Capturing him in the warmest hug he had ever had. Who would have thought di Angelo would be so cuddly? But at that moment, he understood everything. What Nico really meant. He rubbed the boys back soothingly.

"Not everyone likes me, Neeks. You should see the list of monsters that want to kill me. And people. I'm really not that popular." Nico let out a chuckle into Percy's shoulder.

If they could stay like that forever, Nico would never have a reason to be upset again.

"Nico, can you please stay here. I know you want too." Percy pleaded. Nico gave a small, almost girlish giggle.

"Sure, why the hell not."

* * *

Thanks for reading! Just a quick one-shot I whipped up when I couldn't think of any ideas for my other story. Quite sad, really. Please review if you liked it or if you didn't don't. Your choice. I'm not in charge of anything. I'll leave now.


End file.
